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JUPITER, Fla. -- It appears it's one step forward and one step back for top outfield prospect Oscar Taveras. The 21-year has been hampered the last few days by a sore right hamstring, the same leg as his original ankle injury.

And progress has been minimal of late.

"It's going slow," Mike Matheny said. "The ankle seemed to be going well. Now the hamstring seems to be holding him back.

Since the hamstring injury is on the same leg as the ankle Taveras had operated on this offseason the team believes there's a chance the two could be related.

"Could be. They're doing some testing on it. The strength seems to be okay. Its just tight on him. It's not for lack of effort though. He's put in a lot of work to get all the strength and do all the running. It's not like he came out on the field without being prepared," Matheny said.

At this point the Cardinals say without Taveras getting on the field it's impossible for him to break camp with the big league club. Matheny even admitted everything had to go right for the outfielder to make the team as it was.